Penguin Party Games

1. Musical Ice Blocks

Musical chairs is a classic kids game that everyone loves. Since they don’t have chairs in the arctic nations, however, the penguins have to play musical ice blocks. To make ice blocks for your party game, simply wrap large cardboard boxes in white paper. You may need to fill the boxes to make them sturdy enough for kids to sit on during play. Set up the ice blocks just as you would the chairs, with one less than you have players. Turn on the music and have the kids circle the row of ice blocks, only instead of walking, tell them to waddle like penguins.

2. Magnet Fishing

Just like penguins must catch fish to survive, so must the players in this party game. To set up for this game, you’ll need:

• Cardstock paper.
• Magnet stickers (found in craft stores).
• A fishing pole (can be made by trying string to a stick).
• A bin.

Cut the shapes of fish out of the cardstock paper. Attach a magnet sticker to each fish and drop them into a large bin, such as a cardboard box or laundry basket. Attach a large paper clip to the end of the line on the fishing pole. Kids must try to catch a fish by attracting the magnet to the clip. Each player gets three tries to catch a fish. Any player who fails to catch one is out of the game.

A variation on this game is to color code the fish in the basket and assign different point values to each color. Players will try to catch the highest valued fish they can. The player who scores the most points wins the game.

3. Build an Igloo

There are several ways kids at a penguin party can build an igloo:

• Build a large igloo by stacking white wrapped, cardboard boxes.
• Build a small igloo using sugar cubes and white icing.
• Use white playing cards to play an igloo-building game just like building a house of cards.
• Build a milk jug igloo.

4. Penguin Walk Relay Races

Kids can divide into teams and run any style of relay race, only instead of running, they waddle like penguins. If you happen to have a penguin costume, one fun idea is to have each player waddle the relay course in the costume and then take it off for the next player to wear.

5. Ice Cube Race

Divide your little penguins into two teams. Set up a bowl of ice cubes at the start line for each team. Set up an empty bowl for each team a few feet away from the starting line. Give each team a spoon. Players must carry the ice cubes, one at a time, from the full bowl to the empty bowl. The first player to fill their empty bowl wins.

6. Pin the Beak on the Penguin

Another classic party game is Pin the Tail on the Donkey. This game can be adapted to suit just about any party theme, including penguins. Draw a penguin on a piece of poster board and cut out the beak. Have the birthday child help you paint or color and decorate the penguin, and then hang it up on a wall. If you prefer, you can also have a picture of a penguin blown up and printed to poster size. Blindfold players and see who can tape the beak back in the correct place.